“It’s a funny old game, football,” muses Matty Dolan as he’s sat holding court in the Riverside Stadium press room just after 5pm on Saturday.

As he walked into the press room, the smiling Newport hero took his place on the top desk, a row of dictaphones placed was in front of him and turned to the visiting press officer: “I never got as far as sitting here,” he laughed.

He was referring to his time at Boro – not a stint at the club but an entire childhood: 15 years from the age of six to 21.

Even now, he still feels the flutter of anticipation when Dave Parnaby’s name pops up on his mobile phone.

Dave Parnaby with Ben Gibson (Image: Doug Moody)

“He still sends the odd text every now and again and it’s a bit of a wow moment,” says the midfielder.

It was put to Dolan that Parnaby, watching on from the stands, was gutted the 25-year-old wasn’t starting against his former club.

“I was as well,” he laughed.

But as Dolan says, it’s a funny old game. And a day that had started with disappointment ended with absolute sheer delight.

Matty Dolan (Image: Getty Images)

Just minutes after being introduced from the bench, the left boot that was crafted on the training pitches of Rockliffe delivered the telling touch in the final seconds of the fourth round tie.

The best moment of his career so far?

“I suppose it is,” he says.

“Quite a lot of my mates are Newcastle fans, I think i've made their weekend. A lot of them came down in their numbers so it was nice to score a goal and celebrate with them.

“They came in with the Newport fans. My old man came down; everyone came down so it was a special occasion - a home game for them so it was nice. I did see [my dad's] wheelchair stick bobbing about at one point. he thoroughly enjoyed that moment and it was nice seeing a big smile on his face at the end; it was lovely.”

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With one change left, Newport boss Michael Flynn turned and looked at his bench. He had options but admitted afterwards that sentiment fuelled his decision to introduce Dolan.

But the change wasn’t a routine one. As he was about to be introduced, the fourth official told the midfielder he had to tape his socks up.

“The gaffer was fuming with me,” laughed Dolan afterwards.

“I was just like, ‘yeah, whatever’. I was bit disappointed not to start so you can imagine me on the sidelines and then after that I got on and did my job. That’s what he told me to do – go forward and get a goal.

“Sentiment means nothing in football. Whether I was playing against anyone – the Met Police in the first round or whatever – I want to be out playing but I don’t want to be out there for the sake of ‘oh, he used to play for Middlesbrough, he grew up in Middlesbrough, he lives near the area’. I want to be out there because I’m worthy of a place out there. He told me to go out and make a name for myself, and it was nice to do that.”

Newport's fans and players go wild after their late equaliser (Image: Getty Images)

Dolan wants to make a name for himself. He wants to make the most of his career in the game. He isn’t one for sitting back and letting opportunities and years pass him by.

He didn’t want to leave Boro in the summer of 2014 but with the route to the first team blocked by several obstacles, he knew chances would be hard to come by.

His upbringing at a “fantastic place, a fantastic club” stood him in good stead.

He left for Bradford, where he’d previously been on loan. He believes his loan stints with the Bantams, with Hartlepool and with Yeovil were all of vital importance in ensuring he’s still in the game today.

“I’d spent so much time here (at Boro),” he says as he reflects on his time at the club and his departure.

“When I was here Richie Smallwood was ahead of me, obviously Grant Leadbitter, Dean Whitehead at the time, so many big names.

Richie Smallwood celebrates his goal for Boro in the 4-1 win against Charlton in 2012

“Quite a lot of young lads….if they don’t go out and experience what football is like, it’s all well and good being at such a fantastic place until you’re 21 but when you go out there in the real world, you aint got a clue what it’s like.

“I think you need to go out, get that loan experience, see what real football is like, real games. It was my decision to do that and it was the best decision I’ve made in my career and I’m still in the game now.

“It could have been a lot different if I was 21 going out there with no experience, someone will just push you aside because you haven’t got that experience.

“Middlesbrough invested a lot of time in me as a young lad, six up to 20, so I spent a lot of time here. I never really broke through but this is still a pretty special moment. It was nice to play out there on the Riverside I topped it off with the goal."

He added: “It (Boro) is a fantastic place, a fantastic club, it’s a Premier League club that’s going in the right direction. I spent a lot of time here. I still keep in touch with the mates I came through with now.

“As a young lad you’re dipping your toe into unknown waters when you have it this good and then you go out into the real world, but it’s a special club and I have no doubt they’ll be back where they belong soon.”

Did he feel like he had something to prove playing against his former club?

“Obviously as a young lad if you don’t break into the first team, you always feel like that,” he said.

“But it’s a club I have so much respect for. I made the decision at the time to leave to experience football and once I got a taste for it I couldn’t do without it. If I was at Middlesbrough I wouldn’t have been playing week in week out, which is what I’ve managed to do since I left.”

He says he “won’t be banging on the door” of the manager to start in the replay at Rodney Parade but warns Boro they’re in for a “tough night”.

“You only have to look at Tottenham, Leeds and Leicester,” he says.

Matty Dolan up against Danny Rose in the third round (Image: Getty Images)

Dolan hadn’t checked his phone before he came in to speak to the press but had a feeling he knew who one of his many texts would be from.

“I might get a nice text off Dave (Parnaby),” he said.

“I’m sure he’ll be respectful.

“Dave was the best at his job. He’s left his legacy here and if you ask anyone (former Boro youngsters) who has a career in football, they wouldn’t be able to do it without him.

“It’s a special club, a special Academy, and I’m sure they’ll keep producing players.”